The Placebo Effect
by Aella Yuki
Summary: All he wanted was to humiliate the annoying pest. So how did Haruka Nanase end up dating the very bane of his existence, Rin Matsuoka?


Disclaimer: I do not own Free! This wonderfully developed story is owned by KyoAni and Koji Oji.

**Author's Note: New year, new fandom to write a story in! /gets shot**

**Enjoy!**

Warnings: Sharkbait, unbeta'd, college AU, drama, humor, angst and developing romance.

Currently listening to: _Mafuyu no Hidamari_ by Yoshimori Makoto

**The Placebo Effect**

**Chapter 1: Administration**

* * *

There are very few things that Haruka Nanase can genuinely admit he likes.

One is mackerel. To others, mackerel are just part of one species of fish that some people eat every not and then and wouldn't mind if it never existed. To Haru, mackerel is the very source of his whole-being. There was no such thing in the world that could deceitfully pose as a substitute for mackerel in his life. It was just mackerel and nothing else.

Second are his friends, Makoto Tachibana and Nagisa Hazuki. He met Makoto at Iwatobi Elementary and Nagisa at the Iwatobi Swim Club. The two were the highlights of his relatively normal life. They pushed him to where he is currently. Without them, Haru didn't know what he would do with his life.

Third is art. Aegean, Impressionist even Dadaist art – he loved all forms of art. He not only admired the arts across the ages but was an aspiring artist himself; hence he was pursuing professional training in the arts at Iwatobi College. The arts, to him, allowed him to feel free with his palette and paintbrush and merely paint away to whatever he pleased. Art was an expression of character that he didn't speak out in words.

One last thing he absolutely loves is water. The feel of water against his skin, the taste of water as it streamed down his throat, even the sight of water flowing – he loved it all. Water is even the special link that connected his likes – fishing for mackerel, creatures of the sea, meeting his two best friends through swimming, and admiring and creating seascapes (his favorite scene out of the arts). Water is the very essence of his life (according to himself) and nothing truly mattered more to Haruka.

As a man of very few likes, Haruka had very few dislikes as well.

He didn't like hydrophobes. How could one even hate water? It was crazy. It was absurd. It was absolutely idiotic. Water is just something everyone needs and no one could ever take it out of the equation.

He didn't like English. As part of the general education requirements of Iwatobi College, he has to take two years of the course and he'd be done with ever dealing with the blasted language ever again. He didn't like the way it sounds, the way it looks, the way it just was. He just felt like it didn't flow as well as Japanese, hence his dislike for the language and his lack of interest in his English 102 class.

Speaking of English 102, Haruka Nanase refocused for the umpteenth time on the current lesson of the day – deconstruction of English literary works. The intentional use of syntax in the literary work (what was it again? About a little girl and is a satire against the education system... her name is Alicia? Alexandra? Oh, _Alice) _Alice's Adventure in Wonderland erupted a relatively loud yawn within Haruka as he listened to his professor drone on and on about the subject.

He was about to fall victim to the enticing sight of the outdoors when he heard one voice, one different voice, one _annoying_ voice.

"Professor, doesn't the Lory's line to Alice 'I'm older than you, and must know better' satirize the saying ' the older you are, the wiser you are' by..." Haruka heard himself groan. One of the downsides of English 102 was that the professor required the students to respond in English whenever they wanted to ask or answer anything. Hearing someone other than the professor speak English so fluently curdled the anger within him, especially when that person was –

"Good eye, Matsuoka."

Matsuoka. Rin Matsuoka. The thing, or person if you must, Haru disliked the most, despised the most was, is Rin Matsuoka. Anything and everything about him set Haruka off, and not in the good way.

Rin was narcissistic. He thought he was better than everybody and in most cases, he was. He would then proceed to brag about everything he was skilled in to any unfortunate victim without relent.

Rin was rude. He wouldn't do anything to help anyone, instead retorting by questioning one's intelligence and competence (i.e. "You need help in trigonometry? How did you even pass kindergarten?")

Rin was fluent in English while Haru was not. Two dislikes were linked together through fate, Haru concluded. Two birds of a feather flock together after all

One thing that truly set Haru off was that Rin had a better connection to water than he did. He noticed it when he snuck into the college pool, reveling in the mere beauty of the glorious pool and the drops of moonlight falling upon his face. He thought he was alone until he heard a splash in his haze-induced head. Haru looked around, only noting that there were only residual ripples from the splash before he felt something grab his ankles and pull him down under.

Betrayed by the very thing he loved, Haru tried to swim back to the surface, only to fail. The more he struggled against the heavy pull of water, the more he sunk further and further down as he was getting heavier and heavier by the second. He slowly succumbed to the welcoming darkness until he felt something warm snake around his lithe waist and propel his body upward.

When he surfaced, he began to cough up the water he ended up swallowing as someone was carrying him toward the tiled surface. Haru nestled closer to the warmth of the person who saved him. He heard guffaws and yells, yet paid no heed to them as he focused on breathing evenly. In. Out. In. Out.

Haru laid an arm against his forehead as his vision began to focus. His eyes stared into a sea of red that enraptured him until the situation hit him in the face and he pushed away whatever, _whoever_, was in front of him. His eyes dilated upon the figure before him, only to see that it was a mere worried Rin Matsuoka.

"Get away... from me..." Haru coughed out as a round of coughing overcame him. He weakly swatted an arm away as he covered his face in mere shame.

"Nanase, someone tried to drown you. If I hadn't come, you -" Rin was interrupted as Haru pushed him again, the almost-drowned boy's strength seemingly returning.

"Just get away from me." Haru nearly growled out. Rin stared at him in disbelief, his sharp eyes searching within his own blue orbs before Haru turned away from the intensity (and the overloading embarrassment he felt). Rin then sighed, stepped away, and dived back into the pool to resume what seemed to be his training regime.

On the other hand, Haru didn't understand why his body stiffened against the very thing, he believed, he lived for. He could have defended himself; he could have prevented this very situation from ever happening. But, he didn't.

He let himself fall victim to the harsh choke hold water held against him. He let himself suffocated in the very thing he lived for. He let himself be saved by the bane of his existence from the thing he loved the most.

Haru abruptly stood up, proceeding to leave the pool room when he actually noticed Rin... _swimming_. Haru turned towards the swimmer as he exquisitely swam. His breath, admittedly, was stolen away from the sight he had never seen before.

Entranced by the sheer beauty of Rin's stroke, Haru merely began to glare. At Rin, at the pool, at his reflection against the blue water – Haru really didn't know.

Water, to Haru, was a mere entity that coexisted alongside him. Water, to Rin (or so it appeared), was a mere extension of Rin's body.

That mere thought seethed the curdled anger welling inside of Haru. He abruptly turned to the door, walked out, and slammed the door.

"_Nanase."_

How could water behave so harmoniously with the person he hated the most in the entire world?

"_Nanase..._"

How could that damn annoyance have a better connection with water than he?

"_Nanase-san._"

How could –

"_NANASE-SAN!_"

Haru jumped out of the tranced he was currently under as he searched around the classroom. Currently, there was no one inside except himself and his professor who was standing cross-armed in front of him.

"Class is over, Nanase. But I need to talk to you." Haru merely glanced up at him. "I've noticed that you've been showing a mere..._ disinterest_ in my class, so I assume that you didn't pay attention when I said that I've assigned a project, a _partner _project. This project is 50% of your final grade, and if you don't do it, you will fail the class and will have to retake it next year."

Haru began to glare at his desk as the English began to process in his head. Partner project?

"I believed that you will need help in the project, seeing that you find it more time-consuming staring outdoors than my lessons, so I decided to partner you up with Rin Matsuoka."

Haru's eyes widened. This couldn't be happening.

"But–"

"No buts. Each side will have to do their part in this project. If I see that you've done nothing, I will send you to the Office of Administration on behalf of placing you on academic probation. Am I clear, Nanase?" Haru curtly nodded. "Leave now. Class has been dismissed for ten minutes already."

Haru grabbed his bag and began to leave. When he reached the door, he caught his professor mutter "damn brat." Haru left without responding, finding it difficult to process the information he received.

A partner project, an _English_ partner project, with _Rin Matsuoka_. What exactly was this madness? How could he_ possibly_ work with his greatest dislike? Just how?

The moment he entered the cafeteria, he was glomped. By who? It was merely obvious as –

"Haru-chan! We were so worried about you. Mako-chan was being his mother hen self and everything!"

- Nagisa was the only person who would scream the entire dilemma in that way. The boy then began to nuzzle his head against Haru's chest, holding onto the hydrophile tighter.

"...I hate him," Haru mumbled as he pushed the rather affectionate boy away and took a seat at their usual table at the edge of the busy cafeteria. He began to take out his bento when Nagisa glomped him yet again, halting his movements.

"Eh?! Why would you hate Mako-chan?!" Nagisa all but yelled in the hydrophile's ear. Haru once again pushed the boy off and took out his bento.

"Not Makoto..." Haru quipped. He settled his bag behind him and placed his hands on top of his head. Makoto pulled his chair closer to the sulking boy and soothing rubbed circles on the boy's back.

"What did Matsuoka-san do this time?" Makoto asked, always knowing whatever runs through Haru's head. Haru felt thankful to have Makoto at his side as he knew he could trust the man.

"... project." Haru incoherently mumbled. Makoto merely cocked his head in confusion. "I have to work on an English project with Matsuoka or I'll get expelled." Haru repeated. The pride he held was slowly diminishing. He felt utterly humiliated. He was about to begin his rant about the shark-like swimmer when a cry broke out within the cafeteria.

"Why won't you date me, Matsuoka-san? Am I not enough for you?" A girl cried as she was flat-out rejected by the indifferent boy. Haru recognized her to be Mitsuki Kaji. She was defined as the Yamato Nadeshiko, the perfect Japanese beauty, of the school. She had the looks, she had the grades, she had utterly _everything_. Everything except Rin Matsuoka apparently.

"Look... Maji. I don't like you at all. You, here, crying makes me want to throw up. You're crying as if you lost one of your toys. What are you, five? Leave before you humiliate yourself any further." Rin replied. The girl blankly stared at the boy in front of her, not willing herself to move an inch, before the dam broke and she ran out of the cafeteria with tears streaming down her face. Whispers emerged from the commotion, all of them concerning Rin. But none of them mattered to Haru as the only thing he focused on were Rin's harsh words.

His demeaning words, his wonderful English, his powerful swimming – that was enough for Haru to handle before he snapped.

Haru abruptly stood up, causing his chair to screech against the murky cafeteria floor. Makoto and Nagisa jumped at the sound, staring at the furious boy worryingly. Haru was about to leave when Nagisa shot out of his seat and grabbed his wrist.

"Haru-chan, what are you doing?!" Nagisa questioned as Haru struggled out of the boy's grasp. He stared at the boy for a split second before miraculously escaping the boy's iron grip.

"I'm going to teach Matsuoka a lesson he'll never forget." Haru aggressively replied before striding his way to the pest.

Haru knew that Rin was a desirable target for a lot of girls and boys on campus. He had the dashing looks and the wonderful grades, but he didn't have the personality to match it. He knew that Rin was asked out, left to right, on a daily basis by girls. But by boys? Not at all.

Out of all the guys in the entire world, Haru would be the first boy in the world to ever ask him out. Out of everyone in the entire world, Haru would be the first person to ever receive such a shocked reaction. It'll be a momentous event in history that Haru would never forget. Just the thought of such an event erupted a giddiness that Haru never felt outside of the realm of his loves. It felt wonderful.

Ignoring the protesting cries from his best friends, Haru continued to make his way to his unsuspecting victim. He sucked in a deep breath and called out the boy.

"Matsuoka! Can I speak to you?" Haru all but squeaked as Rin's eyes bore into his, indicating a sign of interest. Haru grabbed the sides of his jacket before saying out loud the words he knew he was going to regret the most.

"Matsuoka, ever since last year, I've always had an _interest_ in you. You weren't like most and that's what fascinated me the most," _since you were such a jerk_, "When I saw you swim, though, that's what enraptured me. It was merely beautiful. What I wanted to say is... I like you. Please, go out with me." Haru finished proudly, hoping to see that shocked face that he believed would form with his words. Instead, a different expression formed, one that didn't sit well in Haru's stomach.

It was definitely a look of shock but not a kind of shock he envisioned. Rin's face then softened before a full-blown smile spread across his face. He proceeded to grab Haru, only to hug him, causing Haru to visibly stiffen. Rin paid no heed though as pure happiness began to radiate off of him.

"I like you too!" Rin confessed as he hugged Haru harder as if he was making sure this was actually happening. "I've always thought you hated me but I guess I was wrong." Rin continued, letting go of the petrified boy to embarrassingly scratch the back of his head as a blush began to spread across his face.

Haru, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. Out of all the outcomes he expected, this definitely wasn't one of them. All he could do was dumbly let out a "huh?" before Rin tenderly cupped his face and stared... _lovingly_ into his eyes.

Everything began to fall on Haru as an epiphany finally hit him: Rin actually loved him. He had entered a minefield the moment he wrongfully confessed to the boy. Any wrong move and he was done for. There was no return point now.

"Nanase, can I?" Rin asked. Seeing there were no signs of protest, Rin leaned down and pressed his lips against Haru's, causing Haru's entire world to still.

Any shouts of complaints or gasps were left unheard as Rin grabbed Haru's hand and left the cafeteria. Haru could only stare at the back of the redhead as he headed off to who-knows-where. He briefly noted that Rin took him to one of dorms and up a flight of stairs before entering what seems to be his room. A click was heard before Rin pushed Haru against his door, noticeably gently, and continued to kiss the boy who remained passive.

Each tender kiss from Rin, each loving stare Rin gave, only fostered the guilt that was gnawing at Haru's gut. This shouldn't have happened. He only wanted to humiliate the boy. He only wanted to teach something to Rin about someone's welfare and not to mess with it. He didn't want any of this, this love, from the boy. This needed to stop before something even worse happened.

Unwittingly opening his mouth to say something, Rin took that as an invitation and plunged his tongue down the boy's throat, erupting a moan from Haru. Rin watched Haru's face turn beet red from such a guttural sound as he continued to ravish the boy's mouth.

Meanwhile, Haru felt the world spin around him as his legs slowly grew weaker and weaker by Rin's ministrations. Rin wrapped his arms around Haru's waist as he pushed the boy upward, forcing Haru to wrap his legs around Rin's waist. Rin continued to explore his mouth, every nook, every cranny, as if he was trying to memorize every contour of Haru's mouth. He drank up all of the moans that continued to escape Haru's mouth as he thrusted upwards against the boy's reactive body.

All of it was just making out too. Imagine if they went even further and –

Haru's eyes unceremoniously shot open as the situation finally hit him. They're not supposed to go any further. Even though it did feel..._right_.

Before his thoughts could delve deeper into oblivion, Haru managed to grab Rin's shirt and push him away, leaving behind a trail of saliva connecting both of their mouths. Rin continued to hold him as Haru tried to catch his breath. A full-blown blush covered Haru's entire face as he covered his mouth.

This could not be happening. This should not be happening. He just made out with Rin, the bane of his existence, and enjoyed it. Oh god. Oh god.

Rin, on the other hand, only thought Haru pushed him away so that the boy could catch his breath so he tried to capture Haru's lips once again, only to have Haru adamantly push him away again.

"Stop..." Haru weakly mumbled. He didn't know what to do anymore. Everything just went downhill and the guilt continued to gnaw away at him and he didn't want to be with Rin. Everything just hurt and he just wanted to be in the relaxing embrace of water at the moment.

Haru didn't even notice that he was crying until Rin wiped away what seemed to be a tear from his cheek. Everything was just going wrong today. First, the English project. Now, _this._ This entire dilemma was caused because of himself. More tears began to fall from his face as the situation continued to grow. He couldn't save himself at this point. The game has begun and quitting now would be a sign of weakness, of stupidity.

Haru covered his face in shame as he showed a sign of weakness to Rin of all people. Of all people, it had to be Rin.

All of a sudden, Rin let go of Haru, only to embrace the crying boy and place his arm over Haru's head to secure him. Secure him from what? Haru didn't know. He just knew he felt a bit warm from this exchange.

"Nanase, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pushing you to this. I should have gotten your consent and everything. I'm sorry. I'm fucking up already when I finally have you and... I'm sorry" Rin apologized as he continued to beat himself up with sorries. Haru merely nestled his face further into the nape of Rin's neck.

_It's not your fault at all. It's mine. Don't apologize for something you never caused. It's mine. I'm the one who fucked up_. Haru cried in his thoughts.

For most of his college life, Haruka Nanase believed he hated every single thing about Rin Matsuoka. His looks, his proficiency in English, his grades, his snarkiness, his perfect harmony with water, everything – he hated it all. But now, having him hug him in such a way where he felt, dare he think it, _safe_ and listening to the boy's incessant apologies made him realize something that should have been realized a long time ago.

Maybe Rin Matsuoka wasn't such a bad guy. Maybe he just misunderstood everything about Rin. Just the thought allowed Haru to continue pouring his heart out upon Rin.

Haru fucked up. There was no turning back now. If he was going to break up with Rin, he can't do it now. He can't do it anytime soon. He'll need to just wait and formulate a plan to make sure Rin won't be the one who will end up hurt.

Even if Haru had to stay in a relationship he never wanted to be, even if Haru had to be with Rin 24/7, even if Haru had to do things he'll know he'll forever regret, he can never turn back.

Because once the pill has been administered, the effects are irreversible.

* * *

**Author's Note: And I'm done with the first chapter. Oh my god. This is one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Just as a side note, if there are some inaccuracies with my writing, please point them out to me so I could research it and rewrite that portion. Thanks! Anyways...**

**I have the entire plot line up to the climax thought out. I just need to write it. Haha.**

**I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, review review review!**


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